Waste Collection Bloomsbury Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Waste Collection Bloomsbury collects, uses, stores, and shares personal data relating to our customers. It applies to all Waste Collection Bloomsbury customers within our service area, including individuals, households, landlords, businesses, and other organisations that use our waste collection and related services.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Who We Are And How To Contact Us

Waste Collection Bloomsbury is the controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is used.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise your data protection rights, you can contact us using the contact details provided on your service agreement or any of our customer communications.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process personal data that is necessary to provide our services, manage our relationship with you, and meet our legal obligations. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details such as name, title, address, telephone number and email address.

Service information such as collection address, access instructions, property type, container type, service preferences, and records of collections or missed collections.

Account and billing information such as customer account number, payment method, billing address, transaction history, and details necessary to issue invoices and process payments.

Communication records such as emails, telephone call notes, complaints, feedback, and any correspondence relating to your service.

Technical and usage data such as your interactions with our website or digital services, including time and date of access and pages viewed, where this is necessary for security, troubleshooting, or service improvement.

In limited circumstances, we may process information relating to incidents, accidents, or claims, which may include information about health or other sensitive information when it is relevant to the incident and required for legal or insurance purposes.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you request a quote, sign up for a service, contact us by phone or email, create or manage an account with us, or communicate with our staff.

We may also obtain personal data from third parties, for example from landlords, managing agents, business partners, local authorities, or payment service providers where they arrange services on your behalf or provide us with information necessary to deliver our services.

In some cases we collect personal data automatically, for example limited technical information when you visit our website, subject to applicable law.

Lawful Basis For Processing

We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the context, our lawful bases may include:

Contract. We process personal data to enter into and perform our contract with you, including setting up and managing your account, arranging and carrying out collections, providing customer support, and processing payments.

Legal obligation. We process personal data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as waste management regulations, health and safety obligations, tax and accounting rules, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing and improving our services, ensuring the security of our operations, training staff, handling queries and complaints efficiently, recovering debts, and protecting our rights.

Consent. In some limited circumstances we may rely on your consent, for example where required by law for certain types of marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

How We Use Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage waste collection and related services that you have requested or that are provided at your property or premises.

To set up and maintain customer accounts, arrange service schedules, and manage changes to your service.

To issue invoices, process payments, manage direct debits or card payments, and handle billing queries.

To communicate with you about your service, including confirming bookings, notifying you of changes to routes or schedules, resolving issues, and responding to enquiries.

To manage our business operations, including planning collections, optimising routes, maintaining vehicles and equipment, and monitoring service performance.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements and to maintain appropriate business records.

To handle complaints, disputes, claims, or legal proceedings and to protect or enforce our rights.

To improve our services, train staff, and maintain the quality and safety of our operations.

Data Sharing And Processors

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties when this is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and when appropriate safeguards are in place.

We may share data with service providers acting as processors who provide services to us, such as information technology providers, customer relationship management platforms, payment processors, billing and accounting service providers, call handling providers, and document storage or shredding suppliers. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data on our instructions and must keep it secure.

We may share personal data with business partners such as subcontracted waste collection operators or recycling facilities where this is required to fulfil our service obligations.

We may share personal data with professional advisers such as lawyers, accountants, auditors, or insurers when necessary for advice, audit, or insurance purposes.

We may share personal data with public authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or courts where we are legally required to do so or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We do not sell your personal data.

International Transfers

If we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using contracts approved for use in international data transfers or transferring to countries that have been recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection. You can contact us for further information on these safeguards.

Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet any legal, regulatory, accounting, or reporting requirements.

In general, we retain customer account and billing information for a period required by tax and financial regulations following the end of your contract or the final payment on your account. Service records and communications may be kept for a reasonable period after the end of the relationship to enable us to answer queries, resolve disputes, or deal with legal claims.

Where we no longer need personal data, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights apply to all Waste Collection Bloomsbury customers within our service area, subject to certain legal limitations and exemptions.

Right of access. You have the right to request confirmation that we process your personal data and to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you, together with certain information about how we use it.

Right to rectification. You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data be corrected or updated.

Right to erasure. In some circumstances you have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data, for example where it is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it.

Right to restriction. You may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we check the accuracy of data you believe is incorrect.

Right to object. You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests as our lawful basis and your particular situation gives rise to an objection. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue or we need the data for legal claims.

Right to data portability. Where our processing is based on your consent or on a contract and carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to request that we transmit it to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details in your service documentation or usual correspondence channels. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Complaints And Your Right To Complain To A Supervisory Authority

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us first so we can attempt to resolve your concerns. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

Security Of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include access controls, staff training, secure storage, and appropriate contractual protections with our service providers.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or how we process personal data. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform our customers. The latest version of this Privacy Policy will always apply to personal data we process about you.